ANR
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I recently visited the State Botanical Gardens in Athens where orchids are featured throughout the tropical Main Conservatory inside the visitor’s center. With an estimated 28,000 species in more than 800 genera, orchids are believed to be the largest and most diverse family of flowering plants. Here are some more amazing facts about orchids. Orchids…
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Heather N. Kolich, ANR Agent, UGA Extension Forsyth County When I leave the house each morning, I hear the calls and songs of several bird species. This spring, we might hear another sound: the raspy song of male periodical cicadas trying to attract a mate throughout the daylight hours. Specifically, we’re expecting Brood XIX (Brood…
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Trees, shrubs, vines, and ground cover plants provide resting places for birds as well as escape cover from predators. Native plants are a natural choice for resident and migratory birds. Flowering native plants, such as serviceberry and redbud trees, smooth sumac and wax myrtle shrubs, Virginia creeper and passionflower vines, and herbaceous flowers like asters,…
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Drilled wells are deeper (100-400 feet) and less prone to contamination than bored wells, which tend to be shallow (10-30 feet deep). The deeper wells draw from the aquifer, which provides natural filtration for water, whereas shallow wells rely on surface water. Older wells (more than 20 years) are also at higher risk of contamination.…
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As Americans are wont to offer a bowl of chicken soup for relief from colds and flu, Brits are known to offer a cup of tea to counter stress. Research from the University of Georgia now suggests drinking tea may be effective in preventing infection with COVID-19. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, UGA Center for…
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March Madness is winding down for college basketball championships, NHL teams are qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs, and the baseball season is just starting up. It’s fun to cheer for our favorite sports champions, but have you ever thought about the trees that make sports possible? Maples provide hardwood flooring for basketball courts. Maple…
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Heather N. Kolich, ANR Agent, UGA Extension Forsyth County I’m feeling rather smug. It’s been four weeks since our most recent effort to keep squirrels from nesting in our gutters, and we still haven’t heard them skittering across the roof. Gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) are the most common squirrel species in Georgia. Although they’re forest…
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As is the case with many invasive plants, the Callery pear tree was brought to the U.S. with good intentions. According to the U.S. Forest Service, a USDA employee imported Pyrus calleryana from Asia in 1917 to impart blight resistance and increase fruit productivity of European pear trees under cultivation. One cultivar, P. calleryana ‘Bradford’,…
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I’ve recently been in contact with a client who had questions about installing sod on the “gravel, clay, and dirt” yard of their new house. She was wondering if she should do a soil test. While the answer is yes, a soil test is only the first of several actions needed to prepare a construction…
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While most boring beetles attack only dead and dying trees, non-native granulate ambrosia beetles (Xylosandrus crassiusculus), formerly known as Asian ambrosia beetles, also attack many species of healthy young trees. They tend to attack deciduous trees with thin bark, such as maple, dogwood, redbud, crape myrtle, ornamental cherry, fig, peach, and plum trees. Granulate ambrosia…
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